Preview: Canadiens at Red Wings

CANADIENS (15-4-2) at RED WINGS (10-10-1)
7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, FS-D, NHL.TV

Canadiens team scope

The Montreal Canadiens begin a five-game, 12-day road trip on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. After playing at Joe Louis Arena, the Canadiens play three games in California before finishing the trip at the St. Louis Blues. "I'm excited about this trip," Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said. "I love playing here because of the history, and then we go to California just as the snow is starting at home. Who wouldn't want to do that?" … Forward Artturi Lehkonen will return to the lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. "We're excited to get Artturi back, because he's a smart player who can help us on the power play and the penalty kill," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said.

Red Wings team scope

The Red Wings are coming off a 5-4 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, but goaltender Jimmy Howard will miss at least a week with a groin injury. Howard, who was placed on injured reserve on Saturday, is 5-5-0 with a 1.82 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in 12 games. Detroit called up goaltender Jared Coreau from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. Detroit's five goals on Friday matched a season high, and was the first time in 14 games the Red Wings scored more than three. "We were getting pucks deep and getting pucks to the net," forward Frans Nielsen said. "I think we showed we are a tough team to play against when we do that."

Canadiens projected lineup

Paul Byron -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Alexander Radulov
Max Pacioretty -- Tomas Plekanec -- Brendan Gallagher
Phillip Danault -- Torrey Mitchell -- Artturi Lehkonen
Daniel Carr -- David Desharnais -- Andrew Shaw
Alexei Emelin -- Shea Weber
Andrei Markov -- Jeff Petry
Mark Barberio -- Greg Pateryn
Carey Price
Al Montoya
Scratched: Chris Terry
Injured: Charles Hudon (upper body), Nathan Beaulieu (throat), Brian Flynn (upper body), Zach Redmond (foot)

Red Wings projected lineup

Anthony Mantha -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Tomas Tatar
Gustav Nyquist -- Dylan Larkin -- Thomas Vanek
Luke Glendening -- Frans Nielsen -- Justin Abdelkader
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Riley Sheahan -- Steve Ott
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson -- Alexey Marchenko
Niklas Kronwall -- Ryan Sproul
Petr Mrazek
Jared Coreau
Scratched: Xavier Ouellet, Brendan Smith, Drew Miller
Injured:Tomas Jurco (back), Darren Helm (upper body), Andreas Athanasiou (lower body), Jimmy Howard (groin)

Status report

Hudon suffered a fractured sternum during a workout on Friday and is out indefinitely. … Carr will play in place of Terry after being scratched against Carolina on Thursday. … Mrazek, who started the season as Detroit's No. 1 goalie, will get his second start in nine games. He played 51:47 on Friday in relief of Howard, and allowed three goals on 16 shots. Mrazek is 5-5-1 with a 3.18 GAA and .897 SV% in 12 games (10 starts) this season.

Who's hot

Galchenyuk has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games. … Price is 12-1-1 with a 1.71 GAA and .945 SV%. … Nielsen had two goals and an assist Friday against the Devils after getting one point in his previous seven games.